“Marketplace” senior correspondent Tong hired by NPR and WBUR

Tong spent 16 years at “Marketplace.” He was the China bureau chief in Shanghai from 2006 until 2010. Since then, he’s been a senior correspondent and has reported from more than a dozen countries — from refugee camps in East Africa to shoe factories in eastern China.

As part of “Marketplace”’s sustainability desk he has covered the global economy, energy and the environment — and done stories on everything from hacking and fracking, to climate and water, Hollywood in China, Huawe driverless cars and tech spying.

“As I child, I learned a Chinese fable about a frog in a well: deep underground, this critter only sees a tiny patch of blue above and assumes that’s the whole sky. Until of course the frog comes to the surface,” said Tong in a statement. “‘Marketplace’ gave me the opportunity to explore the great skies of the world — in Nairobi, Caracas, Shanghai, Manila — and tell stories about them; for that I will always be thankful,” said Tong. “Now, I’m excited to join Robin, Tonya and the WBUR/NPR team at Here & Now to tell timely stories with the program’s signature context and thoughtfulness.”

A highly-regarded public speaker and author, Tong has appeared on the PBS NewsHour, at the Aspen Ideas Festival and at TEDxFoggyBottom. He’s been a guest host of the Make Me Smart podcast and KQED’s Forum.

In 2017, he published “A Village with My Name: A Family History of China’s Opening to the World,” a critically-acclaimed narrative nonfiction account of China’s economic opening, told through the lives of five people across five generations in his own family.